“What?” Sofia replied, tearing herself away from her reflection and turning to him. “I would never quit,” she said in a stern voice. But then she considered it. If she quit, she would never have to appear in that horrid dress again. She would never have to make a fool of herself on camera, alienating her fans and destroying her career. Quitting seemed quite the attractive option in certain respects. But then, what about Jack? What would happen between them if she quit? She would likely never see him again. It was not an option. No quitting.
She turned to Derek. “I’m not quitting, mister,” she told him.
Derek nodded. “Good for you, Ms. Wentworth.”
Then she caught her reflection again and laughed ruefully, regretting the statement as quickly as she’d said it. “But what should I do? I don’t even want to step onto the set again. Acting beside her is horrible. It’s one embarrassment after another. She hates me. I feel like I’m at school, being bullied by the ugly, smelly girl. Only she’s not ugly and smelly, she’s beautiful, younger, and smells rather good.”
Derek grabbed her shoulders. “You want to take down a bully?”
Sofia felt startled by his enthusiasm. “I suppose,” she answered carefully.
“Speaking as a person who encountered some bullies in their time,” he said, “bullies only understand one thing—weakness. They go after the weakling. Are you a weakling?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“No, you are not,” he said forcefully.
“So what do I do, then?”
“Stand up for yourself,” Derek replied.
“How? I can’t compete with her,” she said wearily.
“Yes, you can.”
“But, how—”
He interrupted her. “You’re a smart woman. You already know what to do.”
She glanced at herself in the mirror once more, thinking. She turned to him and nodded and tried to form a plan.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Jack requested a lens flare on all of Courtney’s shots, so while a polite gaffer from Shropshire ran around looking for a teeny tiny mirror, Sofia stood to the side of the sound stage watching Courtney rehearse on her own. “Could you move, Sofia? You’re in my eyeline,” Courtney called out. Everyone turned to look at Sofia.
Sofia realized she was staring into space. “Goodness, sorry. Of course.” She stepped aside, embarrassed.
Courtney finished her rehearsal and walked over. “Sorry for shouting just now,” Courtney said, smiling with bright, insincere eyes. “My eyeline is important to me.”
“It’s all right. I know,” Sofia said apologetically. “I was daydreaming, I made an error.”
“It’s understandable,” Courtney said. “It makes sense—you’re from a theater background. Eyelines don’t matter to you.”
Sofia stiffened. “I understand the importance of maintaining an eyeline.”
“But you do come from the theater originally?”
“Well, yes.”
Courtney tossed her hair. “All I was trying to say. Makes sense now. Why you lost Batgirl.”
Sofia turned to her and glared. “I beg your pardon?”
Courtney laughed. “I just mean, you come from the theater—you didn’t train in film, so your acting is theatrical, old-fashioned. Maybe you do better in the theater.”
Sofia burst out with laughter. “You think I lost Batgirl because I’m a theater-trained actress?” She searched the girl’s face. What was she playing at?
Courtney smiled back at her. “Of course,” she replied in a deliberate tone. “Why else?”
“It will be another five on that mirror, ladies,” an assistant director said to them, scratching his head. “Take a seat.”
A runner brought over some chairs and they sat down. “Where did you go to school, then?” Sofia said to her.
“Beverly Hills High,” Courtney replied with a yawn.
“Sorry. I meant where did you train? USC? The Actors Studio?”
“I didn’t go to drama school.”
“Oh.” Sofia raised her eyebrows.
“It’s never been a problem.”
“You never studied acting?” Sofia said it with genuine interest and surprise, but it seemed to touch a nerve.
“I’m proud I didn’t go to drama school,” Courtney said. “This stuff can’t be taught. It’s all about instinct.”
“You don’t think there are benefits to studying acting, learning dramatic process?” Sofia said.
“Nope,” said Courtney with a grin. “You either have it or you don’t.”
“I studied for five years,” Sofia said.
“You can tell,” said Courtney pointedly. “Yours is better for specific roles, mine is better for others.”
Sofia smiled. “Yours is better for, say, Batgirl?”
“Obviously.” A small crowd of camera assistants began to lean toward them, craning their ears as they fixed a teeny tiny mirror to the camera.
“I was super concerned coming into this,” Courtney said. “I can reveal that now. I mentioned to a few people that our acting styles don’t match.”
“In what way?” Sofia asked through gritted teeth.
“Mine is natural. Yours is theatrical. You were so lucky to get Batman again the last time.”
Sofia scoffed. “And what do you consider ‘natural’ acting, dear?”
“Natural acting is feeling it,” Courtney said. “You know, getting into character. I don’t know!” She threw up her arms, like she was making an offering.
“And you believe you are the better actor?” Sofia asked.
Courtney shook her head violently. “Of course not!” Then she shrugged. “Well, if we look at what part I’m playing, and look at what part you’re playing . . .” She shrugged again, then sighed. “All I’m saying is, acting is easy. You take it so seriously, whereas I am so much more relaxed. I just let things flow. And it shows in my work.” Courtney began talking faster, growing more out of breath. “It’s not the end of the world, we can’t all be the best.” More crew people, lighting and grips, moved toward the camera to check if they needed help affixing the mirror. They aimed their ears at the conversation as they helped.
Sofia inhaled. “Care to have a little wager?” she asked. “Why don’t we both act out the same scene and decide who is the better actor?”
Courtney spluttered with laughter. “What? No way.”
“You don’t think you will win?” Sofia said.
Courtney looked around. An entire crew of people were watching. “Of course I will,” she spat. “Fine. You’re on,” she said.
“Splendid,” Sofia replied.
The crew now abandoned their mirror-affixing pretense and turned to watch, clearing a space on the rehearsal set without comment. Courtney saw the gathered crowd
